Face it all Together
by toolostforyou
Summary: Will/Mac present-day Something upsets Mac so much that she just can't fight back anymore; Will has never seen her like this.


Will/Mac present-day

Something upsets Mac so much that she just can't fight back anymore; Will has never seen her like this. (Obviously angsty, but preferably with a happy ending?)

The sob that comes from Mackenzie was not what he expected. She's now stood in front of him in the middle of his office, her eyes bright red, her make up smudged and attempting to hold back the noises rising from her chest.

He can't remember why he was angry with her in the first place but he's never had to deal with this reaction. She typically just stands there, doesn't bat an eyelid and then she would do the infuriating thing of swinging on her heels. But she just started to cry, silently at first with her head tipped to the floor, moments later the sob came and his rant was stopped half way through. He was left silent and stunned.

In all his years of knowing her, he had rarely seen Mackenzie cry unless it was at a movie, which in turn happened often even if she attempted to hide it from him.

But he's rendered speechless by her red-rimmed eyes, her shoulders shaking every so often. She makes him feel like a jerk for the third time this week without saying a word. Normally a head tilt is enough to make him feel bad but this takes him to another leave.

"Mackenzie?"

"Carry on."

He can't, he could hear her breath catching as she attempted to talk and he noticed that one tear was just holding to her cheek while gravity attempted to pull it to the floor. But he couldn't carry on yelling at her for something that seemed pathetic right now.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm fine."

"You're crying." And her eyes finally look at him, her head tipping up and he's never seen that look behind her eyes before. Actually he has, when he was telling her to get out of his apartment and he never wanted to see her again while she was struggling to get most of her personal belongings into a paper bag. It looks like the light has gone out; she's just stood there existing with no real feeling behind her eyes. Come to think about it, he didn't hear from her all weekend.

"My dad…" She can barely get the words out before she starts sobbing again, and this time she moves to sit down on his couch. Within seconds he walked over to her and pulled her towards him so her head was resting against his stomach. The overwhelming need to protect and care for her over taking.

He hears 'stroke' and 'coma' between her sobs that are coming so hard that she's starting to hiccup and he thinks she's not far away from hyperventilating. He wanted to ask her why she's at work but he knows her well enough that it will turn into 'I thought it would take my mind off it' because it's always her answer. It used to work but they've only been at work an hour and she's been off her game. He attempted to call her up on it, asking why she was slacking, why some reporters had no idea what they were doing and he had missed the fact she had turned into a walking zombie over the space of a weekend.

Will sees Jim paused at the door and he just shakes his head at the younger man who quickly walks away. He see's Sloan looking over concerned and it hits him she's kept it all to herself. They're the only two people he could imagine her telling, Sloan more than Jim as they quickly became friends, but they both looked confused at Mackenzie's reaction.

"He'll be okay. Your father's a strong man."

She nods her head but she wraps her arms around his hips, seeking comfort.

"Go to the hospital, sit with your mother and Isabel. We can manage the show for a few days, you can't be here."

He expects her to fight back; to argue that she can do her job, she's the last person to back down but she nods yet makes no action towards moving. Will takes a step back and holds his hand out to her that she takes before standing up.

"I'll talk to Charlie, take as much time as you leave, Jim will take over your position. The show won't be as good without you but we can attempt to keep the ratings steady for a week or so." This gets a half smile out of her and he hugs her again, her head resting against his shoulders. Without thinking his hand comes up to run through her hair, pressing a kiss to the crown.

"Look after yourself, I'll ring you later and give everyone my best wishes." Mackenzie pulls away from him and Will runs his thumb across her cheeks, trying to brush away the tears that had settled. The need to comfort and kiss her is over whelming but he's not oblivious to the prying eyes on the other side of the glass wall.

"Thank you Billy." His heart tugs at the use of his nickname and how she sounds like a little girl who hasn't yet reached her tenth birthday.

Will makes sure she takes everything she needs and actually leaves the building instead of throwing herself into work. Once she's left he makes sure that flowers get sent to her father's room and that waiting for her once she gets home there's a bouquet of mixed roses on her dinning room table.


End file.
